I've hit a wall with my computer's internet connection. It suddenly stopped connecting to my home network, whether I try using Ethernet or WiFi. With the Ethernet, it says I'm connected but with no internet access and the troubleshooter says there's no valid IP configuration. For WiFi, it just keeps saying 'unable to connect to this network.' This was all working fine just a few days ago and has been for years. The odd thing is that I can still connect to a WiFi hotspot on my phone without any issues. My router is functioning as other devices are connecting just fine. When I try the Ethernet on both my computer and laptop, it states there's an unidentified network and reports the same IP address issue. I've already factory reset the router, run some network commands (netsh and ipconfig), tried different Ethernet ports, disabled the adapters, and restarted my PC, but nothing seems to work. Any ideas?
2 Answers
Have you checked the available bandwidth on your router? I had a similar issue with my laptop after a system update, where it wouldn’t connect to my phone's hotspot. I fiddled with the hotspot settings, switching from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz, and suddenly it started working. Might be worth a look!
It sounds like there could be a conflicting issue between your PC and your home network, likely due to IP address assignment, MAC filtering, or maybe a corrupted network profile. I recommend deleting your saved network profiles first. To do this in Command Prompt, type: netsh wlan show profiles, then for each profile listed, use netsh wlan delete profile name="ProfileName" for home-related profiles. After that, try reconnecting and re-enter your WiFi password. It could fix the problem! If that doesn’t work, you could test setting a static IP. This way, if your PC is struggling to get an IP from the router, assigning one manually can help.
Got it! Just in case I need help setting a static IP, how would I do that?
To set a static IP for Ethernet: Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections, right-click on your Ethernet adapter, select Properties, then click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and set:
IP: 192.168.1.50 (or another unused IP within your router’s range)
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8
Click OK and try reconnecting. Do the same steps for WiFi. If this works, it means DHCP from your router isn't working well with your PC, which could be due to a MAC filter or reservation issue.
Yeah, it connects to my phone hotspot just fine. It’s only my home WiFi that it won’t connect to, and all other devices are working perfectly.